LAST GIFT
A Le Mars man has begun a program which seeks to identify people buried in unmarked graves in Plymouth County. Steve Kolker said the idea for the Last Gift program began with his friend Dave, who had passed away several years previous.
Kolker said someday he would like to find more of these graves.
Kolker got together with a few friends, and began raising money for the Last Gift program. The first person they helped came about two years ago.
Steve learned more about Jose at his service.
Then the group began going through Calvary Cemetery in Le Mars to find graves which had temporary markers.
Another of the first Last Gift recipients they researched was a temporary marker on a child’s grave.
Kolker says that convinced him to concentrate on potter’s fields – that portion of a cemetery where the indigent are buried. Kolker is learning from the experience, even about his own family.
Members of the Last Gift program seek out unmarked graves in Plymouth County cemeteries. They work to identify the grave, and learn about the person buried there. They then purchase and place a headstone and hold a small service for that person. Kolker says the Last Gift allows for a lasting remembrance of one whose name would otherwise be lost.
Steve Kolker
